Do you know the little mistakes you’re making in your online shop? When I first launched my online boutique I did not realize I was making these same mistakes. Everyone experiences a learning curve but I am trying to help you go past it without having all the hiccups and mistakes I made in my infancy as a business owner.
Charging For Shipping
Here is a little secret I share with all my clients. Shipping is free unless customers want priority or next day shipping. Most retailers even small business say “free shipping when you spend x or more.” You are losing customers with this one little thing. Especially if they only came to your site for a $25 tshirt. How can you remedy this issue? Here is the big secret include it into the cost of your product. Markups are in place for a reason. Including shipping cost, factoring if you were to put an item on sale & all matter when determining your product cost. People love free shipping, give the people what they want.
Your Sales Are Not Sales
Last year during Black Friday through Cyber Monday I saw a plethora of bogus deals from big box retailers to small business owners. Here were some of the offenses they made when it came to having a “sale.”
- Up to 20% off
- Free shipping
- 10% off
- 40% off with a minimum of $200 purchase
The list can go on. Here is the thing if you have a pop up on your site most likely you already offer 15% to 20% on a regular day. That’s not a sale. Giving customers $5 off a purchase is not a sale. As stated before, learn to markup your items by even factoring what it would look like when you ran a sale on it. Don’t try to trick your customers.
Not Collecting Email
If a potential customer can land on your website and not once be directed to sign up for your newsletter you’re missing the opportunity to connect with them later. Especially if they were window shopping the first time they were on your website. I am not say set up an annoying pop up with the first 10 seconds of them landing on your website. However, having subtle sign up box on your website under your call to action banners. Or after the customer has been on your website for long than 60 seconds a pop occurs. Collecting emails is important in order to connect with your customers at a better time.
These are three simple mistakes most small business owners make and don’t even realize it. All three of these things are affecting your companies bottom line.
